WHEN WE GET RAIN LIKE WE DID IN JUNE..RURAL ROADS ARE SIMPLY RUINED. IN POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY ALONE, OFFICIALS SAY THE DAMAGE WILL COST A HALF MILLION DOLLARS. KETV NEWSWATCH SEVEN'S MELISSA FRY IS FINDING OUT WHY IN THIS NEW STORY AT SIX. DRIVE DOWN ANY COUNTRY ROAD - AND YOU REALIZE, IT'S NOT EVEN ... BUT HERE - ITS áERODING!( JOHN RASMUSSEN / POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY ENGINEER: the first rain really broke everything lose and i think because the ground is saturated its not taking the rain as well as it normally would...) POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY ENGINEER JOHN RASMUSSEN'S TALKING ABOUT THE áRAIN IN JUNE áALONE. MORE THAN A DOZEN STORMS...WITH WATER FILLING THE DITCH...MUD CLOGGING THE DRAINAGE... SEDIMENTS SEEPING AWAY.( RASMUSSEN: the water gets back up on the road and causes further damage.)( MELISSA FRY: the gravel washes from the but the county can't reuse it, its full of mud.) SO, POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY SPENDS A LOT OF MONEY. A HALF MILLION LAST MONTH - TO REFILL AND REPAIR...ONLY TO WATCH IT RAIN. AND SO, CREWS áREPEAT.( RASMUSSEN: every weekend it seems like that's the first two days of FIFTEEN HUNDRED MILES OF GRAVEL ROADS AT RISK WITH EVERY HARD RAIN STORM. RASMUSSEN SAYS ALL HE CAN DO, IS SEND OUT CREWS AGAIN AND AGAIN.( RASMUSSEN: if we get behind we don't ever get caught up so its something we try to keep pace with.) REPORTING NEAR UNDERWOOD, IOWA - MELISSA FRY KETV NEWSWATCH SEVEN. HIGH WATER.. HAS WASHED FOR THE PAST WEEK. BUT IT'LL BE BACK TOMORROW.. D OFFICIALS WILL RE-OPEN ALL ACCESS POINTS IN DOUGLAS COUNTY.

Comments

The views expressed are not those of this site, this station or its affiliated companies. By posting your comments you agree to accept our terms of use. KETV NewsWatch 7 offers readers the ability to comment on stories with the understanding that these comments may be reprinted elsewhere on the site or used on KETV NewsWatch 7 newscasts. We ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, comments that don't relate to the story and any personal remarks. THIS IS IMPORTANT: KETV NewsWatch 7 does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not, at times, find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in this area. If you find a comment that is objectionable or offensive, click the flag that appears in the upper right corner when you hover over a comment. Flagged comments may be automatically hidden from comment threads. For comments to appear on the website and/or the mobile app, email addresses must be verified through Disqus. We ask the community to monitor this forum with the knowledge that KETV NewsWatch 7 does not regularly monitor these comments.